Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver is not helping restart Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility by questioning the ethics of Tri-City Economic Development Council board members, Bill Martin, president of the group, said Friday.

"He confuses the fact that some people have a different opinion with (having) a conflict of interest," Martin said.

Martin made the comments after Oliver asked TRIDEC board members Thursday evening to assemble an independent community ethics review group.

He proposed it include a high school civics teacher, a judge or an attorney and an accountant familiar with Hanford.

Oliver, who's made commercializing the research reactor his mission, began calling for an ethics review after two longtime community leaders on nuclear issues said earlier this month that the battle to restart FFTF had been lost.

TRIDEC already has an ethics policy that calls for board members to disclose conflicts of interest, prohibits them from representing TRIDEC if there would be a conflict and requires them to abstain from voting on those matters.

TRIDEC does not need and will not form an independent community review group to look at its ethics, Martin said. But if Oliver has a specific complaint, he should submit it in writing and TRIDEC will investigate, Martin said.

"(Oliver) does not make any specific accusations" in the letter he gave to board members Thursday, Martin pointed out. "What he sends us is very, very vague."

Oliver said Friday that it would be wrong to make an accusation. What he wants instead is active ethics oversight of TRIDEC.

Although there is an ethics policy, "I was unable to see such a policy engaged," he said.

Board members Thursday told Oliver they appreciated his letter, but some said they were disappointed in his approach, Martin said, recapping the meeting, which was open only to board members.

"There was a feeling if Claude wants a restart, he should concentrate on that rather than putting blame on TRIDEC if it does not succeed," Martin said.

Oliver has questioned whether TRIDEC has done enough to present a united front to state and federal officials and whether it has lobbied hard enough for a restart of the reactor for medical and nuclear research projects.

Vic Parrish, chief executive of Energy Northwest, which has an official on the TRIDEC board, and Mike Lawrence, former Richland Department of Energy manager and TRIDEC board member, have questioned whether the battle to save FFTF can be won.

Their statements were not made on TRIDEC's behalf, Martin said.

TRIDEC's support for restarting the reactor remains unchanged since the latest resolution passed by the board a few months ago, Martin said.

The board's position on FFTF was not discussed at Thursday's meeting.

In the nearly four years that Martin has been at TRIDEC, the organization has committed about $30,000 to the effort to save FFTF and passed a half-dozen resolutions.

TRIDEC also has testified in support of a restart at public meetings.

"The current discussion is totally unproductive," Martin said. "If he wants to restart FFTF, focus on that."

The TRIDEC board is made up of 39 volunteers, most of them leaders in the community.

"They volunteer their time, and I think it's an insult to claim they lack ethics or have a conflict of interest," Martin said.

Oliver also has questioned whether one TRIDEC board member is being paid.

But Oliver, as a board member himself, should know that board members receive reimbursement only for itemized expenses incurred doing TRIDEC business, Martin said.

Since Oliver began questioning payments and potential conflicts of interest this month, Martin has pulled figures for how much money has gone to each board member's organizations.

The largest amount spent this year has been $13,250 given to Benton County to assist with market research related to promoting a restart of the reactor, Martin said.